I have a Lamont sticker on my car and when I drove through the intersection where the two young enthusiastic guys were waving Lieberman signs, one of them didn't exactly give me the finger, but he came close.
Sure, I'm not likely to change my mind, but what about the cars behind me? I doubt that kind of display going to win those drivers over to Lieberman--heh, unless I'd cut someone off earlier (and I hadn't).
It's a reflection of the bigger picture: the pundits and supporters like Droney who call Lamont supporters "fringe" and "left wing extremists." You'd think they'd take a look at the poll numbers and realize they're way off track. . .and not to mention they're probably insulting all those voters who are only slightly leaning towards Lamont. Their bit of ostracizing characterization will only push those voters further over that edge to the Lamont campaign.
It seems kind of basic, doesn't it? Going after the candidate, negative campaigning, seems to work, god help us. But going after the candidates' supporters? That seems pretty stupid.
And it's not helping. A while back, I wrote about my neighbor who'd never vote for Lamont http://www.dailykos.com/... He has known Joe since he (the neighbor) was 14. He's gone door to door for Joe. This is not a guy who's into politics; he's just always liked Lieberman.
And guess what?
He's right on the edge about the race. He doesn't like Joe's attitude about the war. And he doesn't like the way Joe's treating the people of Connecticut.
"I'm torn," he told me. "This is really hard."
I told him to at least listen to Lamont. That's about as political as I can manage in my real life (hey, I have the bumpersticker and the yard sign). . .
Until those pundits treat voters who are leaning toward Lamont with more respect, they're just going to keep losing Joe votes.
BTW, here's my bit I wrote at myleftnutmeg that got dumped (because it was in response to a Lieberman supporter who turned trollish and got dumped. He basically said that only far-left political junkies like Lamont:
FWIW, I LIKED Lieberman. A couple of years back I remember thinking how glad I was to live in a state with reasonable democratic senators.
Then Katrina Happened.
Then I started paying closer attention to politics and the war.
Then I got disgusted and started reading blogs. This is all since last August.
So guess what--here's the bad news: it isn't just the dramatically far-left democrats who're paying attention and who care. I'm a flipping suburban stay-at-home SOCCER MOM, dude. I have three kids, a dog, a minivan. I have been to Tupperware and Longaberger basket parties in the last year.
Anyway, if you want advice from a newly awakened CT Demo -- you're not helping your candidate. But then again, he isn't helping himself, bemoaning the whole process of DEMOCRACY. "Omigod! An ELECTION! This is unspeakable to do to a guy who's served the public for so long."
This kind of bitterness that you and Lieberman display about the other candidate and his supporters turns me off. I can see you feel under attack but it's not a way to gain people to your side to go to a blog and call the regular bloggers idiots.
Although truthfully I can't see how you'd gain Democrats like me back when your candidate wouldn't admit Iraq was a mistake. If you don't agree that Iraq is a failure then it's hard to see where there can be a meeting of minds for me--and I know I speak for a whole lot of Suburban CT Moms I've talked to.
And the whole "one issue" thing doesn't make a lot of sense to me. IRAQ is one word describing something HUGE. It's a goddamn elephant in the room. Until it clears out, what else is there to think about?
It's thousands of dead innocents; it's sucking resources from the economy (back to Katina) putting my kids and grandkids' future in peril; it's the direction of this country; it's the desecration of the constitution.
Sorry, I take it back. Even if Lieberman switches over to good manners--it won't do it for me. He'd have to say something CONCRETE about the so-called war on terror for me to even consider voting for him in the primary.
If he beats Lamont next month, I'll hold my breath and vote for him though. No thanks to him or supporters like you.
Yeah, the note sounds pretty churlish, but believe me it was far more polite than the troll who was trawling for Lieberman.
edited to remove exaggeration--only one guy did the "yah you" gesture with scowl.